John Hanly Lecture

held on Friday, January 20. Before the speech, current Head of School Tim Lear gave a brief overview of Mr. Hanly’s legacy. He recognized Mr. Hanly for his commitment as an educator and shared a story about Mr. Hanly’s integrity and dedication to upholding his own ethical code. Afterward, he introduced this year's speaker, Mr. David Gelber '59.

Gelber is the executive producer of Years of Living Dangerously, an Emmy Award-winning documentary series about the first-hand experiences of people living through climate change. His company, The Years Project (@ yearsofliving on Instagram), is a form of multimedia communication about climate change that has taken social media by storm. In his talk, Gelber discussed the intersection between the oil industry and the global warming crisis Earth is facing. Specifically, he spoke about Lee Raymond’s legacy. As former CEO of Exxon, Raymond was the subject of controversy during growing concern over climate change. From an ethical standpoint, Gelber discussed the lasting implications of poor decisions made by Raymond: "By covering up that information he had, Lee Raymond and other oil company executives wasted 40 years that could have been spent investing in a clean energy economy, with solar and wind power. Instead, we are in the mess we are today, not even sure if we have enough time that has to be done before it is too late.”

Gelber stressed the importance of internalizing the Honor Code before poor moral decisions are made: "If they were grading Raymond's performance on account of Pingry's Honor Code, I bet they would have given him a resounding ‘F,’ sent him to summer school, and told him to do a hell of a lot better next time." His speech concluded with discourse on the current politicized state over the climate change debate and how this directly reflects politicians putting their own interests ahead of the common good. Thanks to Gelber, the Pingry halls clamored with newlyinspired discussions after his speech, students and faculty alike considering the weight of their personal decisions in a new light.

MLK Day Assembly: Featuring Keynote Speaker Andre Bradford

OLIVIA BUVANOVA (IV)

On January 13, the community gathered for the annual MLK assembly to reflect on and celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. This year's keynote speaker, Andrew Bradford, performed original slam poetry—a style of communication which focuses on empathy and understanding others. Bradford’s performance featured poems about inclusion, mental health awareness and the power behind a small act of kindness. His mastery of slam poetry conveyed the difference one can make when viewing life from another perspective.

Bradford started performing slam poetry when he was 15, through his high school and college theater programs.

After graduating from the USC School of Theatre, Bradford performed poetry for schools across the country. In recent years, Bradford became the Texas National Poetry Grand Slam Finalist, which led to the release of his book of poetry, Golden Brown Skin Reflecting on his decision to become a motivational speaker, Bradford notes, “There was something about the rawness and the vulnerability that immediately drew me in… slam poetry, revealing fragments of my life through personal anecdotes, would help audiences see how life-changing implementing more intentional empathy could be in their lives.”

Bradford started the assembly with a greeting: Sawubona. The English equivalent of “hello,” Sawubona directly translates to “I see you” among the northern tribes of South Africa. In his poetry, Bradford tied in this unique phrase with the utmost importance of recognizing the worth and dignity of each person.

Bradford titled his show

“Kintsukuroi: On Empathy and Other Things,” drawing inspiration from the Japanese art form Kintsugi. Kintsugi is a a process of mending broken pieces of pottery together using a golden lacquer. The finished work becomes arguably more beautiful after it is broken. Using this as a metaphor for healing empathy, Bradford created a memorable show, driving home the idea that whether knowing a person for five minutes or five years, you only truly know them after a deep, genuine, and empathetic conversation.

CHELSEA PENG (V)

Books by romance and young adult fiction author Colleen Hoover outsold copies of the Bible in 2022. Don’t recognize her name?

Think It Ends With Us , Verity , and Ugly Love . She blew up on social media during the pandemic, with 2.4 billion views on the hashtag to her name and millions of reviews on GoodReads. Though ranging in genre, the common denominators in her stories are intense drama and jaw-dropping plot twists. Readers raved about